Pros
Good pay: Good starting rate at 15$ or more for most positions. (Great for me, been there before + worked several jobs with good rep + worked my butt off while I'm here) Mostly good team: The way the departments are set up, and the roles of each departments, plus the relatively laid back environment makes for a family like feel most of the time. We support and back each other up in a general sense when we can, taking our time to do a task or skill that will help them, wether it's taking a minute to us a forklift in another department's cooler to bring down their product from the steel, or breaking down and soeting their pallet loads when they need the extra manpower, or even just zoning their area when they are behind, e.g. cleaning up empty boxes, re shopping misplaced product. Managers are usually pretty good people: Lot of smart hard working team leaders and coaches that aren't toolbags, and that will understand your stress and be there to help you, and will push you in the right way to work harder and keep you from slacking and make you do your best and be versatile.
Cons
Not enough people/understaffed; It was always a problem, but it got really bad with Covid. Before, it was lazy undedicated people who abuse the generous PPO/PPTO system, and they would eventually be flushed out and replaced, which would cause understaffing gaps, but we could handle it. Now, with Covid and unemployment extensions, people seem to have no desire to work. And the new market of young hires do one week of the job, which is by no means the worst job no matter the position, especially with the minimum pay, and they just dip with no word. Freezer/Cooler/Deli: I worked my butt off during the early stages of covid, the afformentioned shortage in the Produce section. I would come in for the closing shift, finish up what the morning crew didn't, clean my area and put out produce, and then go help other departments. Cooler and freezer where always backed up, and a mess, so I'd dedicate my free time to helping them. I was offered a position in Freezer/cooler/deli for a slight pay raise, and I accept. It was hell for the first year and beyond. No one, absolutely no one wants to work freezer... solely because of the cold. It was embarrassing to be the only person to jump between areas, working my butt off trying to do my best in all the areas, just to find out one person came in and only did deli, one did cooler, and complained about everything I did their, and the third went around wining and complaining and gossiping. This person has been their for awhile, made WAY more money than us because of their years there, and did almost nothing. They have been clocked/observed by managers from other departments for 40 minutes of talking to members or other coworkers. They moved positions recently, and still have their pay and job. I've dealt with it by having a daily game plan, where I jump between all FCD locations, prepare/breakdown/put some vital product out, and then head to Freezer and spend the majority of my time there. I don't have a choice. I tried juggling it, and it doesn't work when no one wants to work Freezer at all. Bad managers: I noted that there are a lot of good managers, and this still holds true. They are dragged around, dealing with multiple departments, doing their best to be helpful. ....this means there is a lot they can't help with. And then there are the bad managers. There was a coach who was very passive aggressive and aloof. Not good for new or inexperienced workers, and very disheartening for us more experienced workers who just needed the simplest of attention from a higher up. The most recent team lead in my position was a hard worker, and they have my respect for that. But this person did not know how to talk to people, and was horrible at prioritizing. I would be stressed and have a talk with them, and they would assure me that they only had to come to them and explain when I couldn't do a job and was overwhelmed, and that they would help me. I came to them on a later date, and explained my concern when my load wasn't finished, and I needed the new hires to just do a few things, and they became agitated and said they had them pulled to other departments to cover for attendance issues. It was the attitude that got me. This person, as I said had their priorities wrong, and didn't talk to people well. The particular department dropped a half dozen people when they came in, being overbearing and not understanding the situation.
